Improvement in building-yards



vA. W. THOMPSON.

mpovemen in Bu'dngY Yards.

N0. 126,240, Patented*April30,1872t AMBROSE W. THOMPSON, OF NEW YORK, N.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUILDING-YARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 126,240, dated April 30, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Airsnosn W. THOMP- SON, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steamboat-Building Yards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan, and Fig. 2 a vertical section.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawing denote the same parts.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of yards for building iron steamboats so as to facilitate the movement of the materials to the proper points where they are needed, and so as to enable the builder to proceed with the construction of any number of vessels simultaneously, and to launch them from a single launching-way as fast as completed. To this end the invention consists, first, in the arrangement of the launching and building ways; and second, in the arrangement, in connection with the parallel building-ways, of an elevated railway passing over and connecting them all, in the manner hereinafter described.

In the drawing, A A represent the launching-ways, the same consisting of a series of parallel tracks extending from the water up to the plateau where the building-ways andg shops are located, said tracks being constructed upon solid and substantial foundations, and each having two or more rails adapted to the passage of a truck or cradle with grooved or lian ged wheels. Eight ofthese tracks are represented, but the number may be increased or diminished, if thought necessary, according to the size and weight of the vessel to be launched. By means of machinery, which will form the subject-matter of another application i'orLetters Patent, andiwhich itis notnecessary to describe here, I move all the cradles up or down on the ways simultaneously. At the upper end of the launching-ways are the building-ways B B, extending at right angles with the launching-ways on one or both sides, and constituting one or more buildin g-yards. These ways also consist of parallel tracks, adapted to the movement of the cradles that support the vessel.

The ship is built upon the cradles on one of the building-ways, and, when linished, is moved oft' endwise upon the launching-ways, and launched sidewiseby lowering the cradles down the ways into the water. The vessels being arranged alongside of each other on the building-ways, half a dozen or more can be in process of construction simultaneously, and any one of them,when nished, can be moved out upon the launching-ways and lowered into the water independently of the rest, without interferin g with the work of their con struction. Vhen thus launched the cradles can be immediately returned to their position and a new ship commenced without loss of time.

My improvements are designed with special reference to the establishment of works on a largescale for the building of iron steamboats upon our western rivers.

In the drawing I have shown the general arrangement of the works necessary for a firstclass establishment of this kind, said works being so-constructed and arranged that the -iron is manufactured from the ore and prepared for all purposes to which it-can be applied in ship-building with the least possible expenditure of labor7 transportation, time and material.

The ground is laid out, as nearly as practicable, in squares, which are occupied by the various shops. Tram-Ways are laid along all the streets so as to extend around, through, or into each shop, and from the works to the building-yards, where they run past the outer ends of all the building-ways, and are constructed with branches extending in between it may, if preferred, be provided with lateral branches extending longitudinally of the slips, like the tram-Ways below.

The materials are conveyed upon this railroad to any vessel in the yard Where they mayr be needed, and are lowered from the cars to the spot Where they are to be used by means of cranes or other hoisting apparatus attached to and traveling with the cars, and operated by the engine at the elevator D, said engine serving to raise and lower the materials and to run the cars back and forth, as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- A l. In a ship-yard, the inclined launching- Ways A, in combination with the series of horizontal building-Ways B B arranged at right angles thereto, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In connection Withka series of buildingslips, B B, parallel to each other, I claim an elevated track, C C, extending` transversely across the slips above the ships building therein, and a movable, conveying, hoisting-andlowering apparatus, adapted to run on the track to any of the slips, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

AMBROSE W. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

A. THOMPSON, J UAN PATTIsoN. 

